At Milner Financial, we have been implementing and enforcing security protocols diligently for years, in an ongoing effort to keep personal information safe for our advisors and their clients. When email was designed in the 1970s, security was largely an afterthought and unfortunately, email has not changed much since then. Personal information can be easily obtained by a ‘Man in the Middle’, who is spying on the communications as they are shared across the internet. Encryption of this private material is the best way to prevent you and your clients from being targeted by these criminals.
PII (Personally Identifiable Information)
Personally Identifiable Information, or PII, is information that can be tied to any individual’s account number. Criminals can use this information to hack into these accounts for the ultimate goal of obtaining items such as social security numbers, names, and dates of birth. This information is also valuable for resale on the black market for identity theft.
Medical Information (HIPAA and PHI)
Medical information is required to be kept private based on HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) laws. Criminals will use this information to blackmail people with potential embarrassing medical information or fraudulent insurance claims, to obtain prescription medications, and to advance identity theft. Information in this category will give criminals the most money on the black market, which makes it the most targeted information on the internet.
Bank Account and Routing Numbers
Financial institutions are required under the Gramm Leach Bliley Act, to control the way in which they share information related to personal financial information. Access to an individual’s financial information can grant criminals the ability to simply transfer money out of someone’s account to an offshore account completely draining their financial resources.
Trust is the most important aspect of the client/agent relationship. That trust needs to start with the assurance that all of a client’s confidential information is safe and out of the hands of criminals. Milner Financial will continue to ensure that the best security measures are taken and that confidential information remains just that, confidential.